We lay out our lives in a narrative we understand, like a movie. But are
you enjoying making it or are you wondering: “who’s watching my movie?”
-Donald Glover
Hey guys :)
These last few weeks have been filled with uncertainty and emotional ramblings, and I may have lost sight of what this blog was supposed to be all about: Keeping you folks in the loop. I think I've touched on the issues here enough and I'm not even willing to try and discuss my mental state (read a Lewis Carroll novel sometimes) so I figured I'd keep things basic this week, and give you an oversight of what I've been up to.
As a 25-year-old taking his first steps in the world of journalism, much of my time is obviously spent on working and word-related activities. I work in sports (Breaking News to be precise) so even when I'm not on the clock, I still need to stay in the loop. Along with a handful of colleagues I run a group on Skype in which we constantly discuss all sports-related content (though mainly footy), as well as other stuff (mainly nonsense and birds). It's really fun, even though it can be very tiring. The job itself is divided between recaps, which are very stop-and-go, and the breaking stories, which carry quite a bit of pressure in terms of time. With the Champions League, NFL Draft and World Cup on the horizon, it's not going to get any easier either.
Aside from work, I mainly try to see as much of London as I can. There's countless of interesting (and often free) musea that house everything from animotronic dinosaurs to paintings from Degas and Constable, two of my all-time favourite painters (I know I'm an elitist piece of *ss and an incredible snob, but yes, I have favourite painters). Constable in particular is phenomenal at using texture to bring forth minor details and his brushwork is amazing, and I'd never seen any of his larger studies in real life to fully appreciate said brushwork.
Next on my list are the Tate Modern Museum, National Gallery, the Royal Museums at Greenwich (including the Meridian Line) and Battersea Power Station, if only for the Pink Floyd cover. The Tate Modern is currently running an exhibition on Cézanne and Matisse, so if anyone is interested, please let me know. I'd love to actually have someone to visit these places with.
I'd like to take a moment to wish my mother a happy birthday for the final time this year (it seems kind of stupid to keep doing that), if only because it saddens me I couldn't be there to celebrate. I've sent out two parcels since coming here but I've yet to hear from either of the recipients so I wasn't willing to risk sending the present overseas (not sure whether the other two didn't receive their parcels or simply failed to let me know they did) so in a way I felt like a right tool for just sending a long mail and no more.
It was all a little too reminiscent of last year, when my siblings threw my mum a birthday bash and forgot to invite me. At the time I was quite upset, though this is usually about the time of year I make off for the Basque Country and it was perhaps understandable for them to assume I wouldn't be able to make it anyway. I was working at a kind of flowershop-company and would have been late to the party regardless, but it still wasn't particularly pleasant to be passed over like that.
Fast forward 12 months and I've actually put a significant body of water between us. No one to blame but myself this time :) however, I hope to see you all very soon and I'd love to be able to wish my mum a happy birthday in person in a few short weeks. As of right now it looks like I'll be coming to Belgium from the 19th to the 21st of May, so if you could all let me know whether those dates suit you or not, that'd be great. If you have no interest in seeing me you can sod off that's fine, just let me know. I won't be mad; I appreciate the honesty. And you can still sod off.
Do let me know whether those dates suit or not though. The sooner I know whether I can see everyone I want to see during that span the sooner I can reserve seats on the train and all, so really, fire those messages my way. You'll notice there's a Tuesday night in there, and I'd like to spend that one in Leuven and at least partially forget what happened when it's all said and done.
Now, for something completely different. One of my American friends who apparently reads this blog asked me to truthfully answer a question here in front of all to read, and because I have very little shame I fully accepted providing she'd do the same in her blog (which I promised not to link to here). When the question actually came I couldn't help but laugh, as it alluded to a conversation we had more than a year ago and I had long since forgotten about. I am however a man of my word, so here goes.
Q: Did you get lucky on your prom night?
A: I think so. Let me explain: I went to two proms (and should have gone to a third, more on that later), as I had a girlfriend in her senior year who took me to prom when I was a junior and I took someone else to prom my senior year. I know I didn't "score" as a senior as my date got absolutely hammered to the point she could hardly stay on her feet and my mum had to drive her home. It was quite a horrible experience to be honest.
My junior year however I think my girlfriend stayed the night, and you could safely assume we did the no-pants dance if that were the case (sorry mum). I don't exactly remember however (and feel kind of awful for admitting that). I remember very little of that night beyond the dress she wore and the dinner we had. And I swear I didn't get drunk. I even think I was still very much anti-drinking at that point (ah, the good old days).
I was supposed to go to a third prom when I was a freshman at university (because I look amazing in a suit and people kept asking me) but I got roaring drunk the night before and missed my connection home to pick up my suit and stood her up. This is still arguably the worst thing I have ever done in my life and I'm still very, very embarrassed by it. It took the girl years to forgive me and I've yet to forgive myself. I have truly hated anything even resembling prom since then and couldn't be happier my old classmates have yet to come up with the wonderful idea of organising a school reunion.
Back on topic. They've just announced the cast for the new Star Wars and I have NO IDEA who any of the new castmembers are, but I couldn't be any less excited about a seventh Star Wars anyhow. I am however extremely excited at the prospect of a Sherlock-special (as reported by Cultbox, via IGN), particularly as we've just seen the conclusion of Community, Archer and HIMYM and there's only one Person of Interest-episode left. On the plus side, Game of Thrones is back and SPOILER ALERT that little sh*t finally got what was coming. Yes, I am still a huge nerd. As the guys from the very underrated and utterly fantastic Better Off Tedd would say: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIwd40pg1xQ
I have a date this Saturday (or Friday as the guys from work just asked me to change my shift) and I'm really not looking forward to it whatsoever, but as a 25-year-old whose only friends are either on the internet, living back in Belgium or about to embark on another wild season of sun, surf and a ****load of wild holiday-sex, I'm simply not allowed to turn down an open invitation for a drink at a bar. She's kind of cute and I will most definately probably tell you how it went. Please don't expect too much. My last successful date happened back when it was still cool to send people videos of Rick Astley (bad example, that's still way cool).
Okay, that'll be it for this week. I hope you're all doing great wherever you are and I'm looking forward to seeing some of you very soon. Take care everyone.
Song of the Week: Going with a serious classic here. I heard this earlier this week and it made me feel older than I have ever felt. Apparently, I was seven when this came out, and I remember skating to this song when I was maybe 13. Good times.
Outkast - 13th Floor (Growing Old)
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